This guidance is based on the Supported Parenting approach, which recognises the human rights of the children and parents within a family that needs support. The Supported Parenting approach affirms that parents have gifts as well as support needs. It asserts that support should be tailored to build on parental capacity as well as addressing deficits.
This guidance is for both adult and children’s services; for commissioners of social work services, for service providers, and for professionals working with parents with learning disabilities and their children. A key aspect of good practice is multi-agency working and this guidance is concerned with social work, health and education services and with the role of both statutory and independent sector services.
There is additional Guidance on the Law relating to child protection in Scotland, published by the Scottish Child Law Centre (2023), which has been specifically written with Shared Lives arrangements in mind.
